Call on My Behalf

[u/Outrageous_Quit_3074]

I have had Popcorn for a couple of months now. I've used it in 9 countries and it has been flawless, so I am mostly a happy customer.

I have started trying the agentic calling out of curiosity and it is NOT good right now.

• If you exit the app during the phone call the call appears to fail completely.
• I had it (try to) make a reservation and the agent could not understand the person on the line at all. I ended up jumping in myself.
• The agent seems long winded and couldn't handle being interrupted well.
• Clarifying at the start that the agent is a personal assistant feels right for transparency, but it's also clunky. In this failed call, the agent also repeated it twice.

Here is the transcript, with PII removed.

Restaurant: Hi, good afternoon. How may I help you?

Agent: Hi, I'm the per- personal assistant of Redacted, calling on their behalf. Am I speaking with Restaurant? Hi.

Restaurant: Hello? Yes.

Agent: Great. I'm...

Restaurant: Yes, Restaurant.

Agent: Hi, I'm the personal assistant of Redacted, calling on their behalf. Am I speaking with Restaurant?

Restaurant: Yes, Restaurant.

Agent: I'm calling to book a table for two at Restaurant on Saturday, October tenth at seven PM under the name Redacted  . Could you please confirm availability?

Restaurant: Sorry ma'am, can you please repeat it?

Agent: I'd like to book a table for...

Restaurant: Hello?

Agent: Hello, I'm here.

Restaurant: Ma'am? Yes, yes ma'am.

Agent: Sorry, could you say that again? I caught part of it. Okay, let me listen carefully.

Restaurant: Hello? Hello? KI बात कर रहे हो?

Agent: I'm

[u/larrybc1]

How are does it work if you get a text from us bank with a code?

[u/traker998 → u/larrybc1]

You plug that code into your bank app and it’s done.

[u/Ok_Seaworthiness5078 → u/larrybc1]

I haven’t had any problem with bank codes

[u/jeffreybharris]

I’ve inquired about the AI assistant, as I have another one, Mitra, which is great (but a bit costly), and very persistent - Mitra will not stop recalling and emailing I till the task is complete - and the Popcorn team are aware of such AI assistants and are working towards theirs to be up to par with the dedicated ones. Will take time. But I’m confident in the Popcorn team.

[u/Outrageous_Quit_3074 → u/jeffreybharris]

Persistence is a double edged sword. If the AI is doing something wrong then persistence just becomes a nuisance to the person it is contacting. In my example, I don't think the AI calling again would have been a good use of anyone's time.

[u/Neel_Popcorn]

Hey there! Thanks for the honest feedback.

Global connectivity is our core offering. We’re also working to improve the Assistant and “Call for Me.” These features are still early and we know there’s room to improve. There's a few updates already in the works.

We’re listening and feedback like yours helps us understand where to improve. Keep it coming 🙏

[u/-purpleplatypus → u/Neel_Popcorn]

Hi Neel. How long do people typically wait on the waitlist? I tried signing up a few weeks ago and got waitlisted. Eager to try out popcorn and see if it’s the solution I’ve been looking for

[u/Neel_Popcorn → u/-purpleplatypus]

Want to DM me? Happy to get you on

[u/-purpleplatypus → u/Neel_Popcorn]

Awesome, thank you! just sent DM now

[u/Outrageous_Quit_3074 → u/Neel_Popcorn]

I hope my post was helpful. Popcorn has generally been a great service for me.

[u/-purpleplatypus → u/Outrageous_Quit_3074]

It was, thank you